Cigar and cigarette holder



Nov. 11, 1952 A. SMERECK I CIGAR AND CIGARETTE HOLDER Filed Jan. 23;1950 l PM Fig. 3.

Fig 2 Arthur .S'mereck JNVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 11, 1952 CIGAR AND CIGARETTE HOLDER Arthur Smereck,Detroit, Mich., assignor to Product Development Engineering Research andPromotion Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of MichiganApplication January 23, 1950, Serial No. 140,013

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in attachments for vehicle ashtrays and deals with subject matter similar to my copending applicationsSer. No. 140,014, filed and January 23, 1950; Ser. No. 171,935, filed onJuly 3, 1950, and Ser. No. 172,307, filed on July 6, 1950.

An object of this invention is to releasably hold a cigar or cigaretteat a position above an ash tray of a vehicle so that it is unnecessaryto hold the cigarette in the hand of the person driving the car orpassengers when such persons do not desire to actually use the cigaretteand when they do not desire to place the cigarette within the ash tray.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment which isused for the purpose detailed above and which has provision forreleasably fastening it to one wall of a conventional ash tray in avehicle, which ash tray is found as standard equipment in the greatmajority of vehicles now on the market.

Other objects and features will become apparent in following thedescription of the illustrated form of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the device showing it attached to onewall of a standard vehicle ash tray and showing in phantom a cigarettedisposed in the cigarette receiving trough;

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the device in Figure 1, portionsbeing broken away in section to show detail of construction;

Figure 3 is a front view of the structure in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a plan view of the device in Figure 2 showing a secondposition for the cigarette holder inphantom; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 2 and inthe direction of the arrows.

Most vehicles today are provided with anash tray as standard-Equipment.It is not the practice to provide'these ash trays with a holder for thecigarettes while the cigarettes are burning. Generally, the ash tray issimply a receptacle which may or may not be displaceably carried by avehicle component, as the dashboard, back surface of the front seat, armrest or other vehicle components. One wall In of a standard ash tray isillustrated in Figure 1. It is on any one of the walls of the standardash tray that the attachment is adapted to be releasably fastened.

The attachment consists of a substantially L- shaped support l2 havingmeans forming a clamp I4 at the lower end thereof and a block at theupper end thereof. This means consists of one leg l6 of the support anda spring clip [8 which is fastened by means of a screw 20 to a part ofthe support at one end and which has its lower end in confrontingrelation with the leg 16. The lower tip 22 of the spring clip I8 is bentoutwardly to form a cam when inserting the device on the ash tray wallH). The spring clip I8 cooperating with the leg [6 forms a pair of jawsto serve the clamping function.

The upper surface of the support is flat and is provided with a taperedbore 24 which opens upwardly. A tapered pin 26 is disposed in thetapered bore or aperture thereby mounting the holder 28 for rotationabout a vertical axis. The size of the pin 26 and size of the aperture24 are such as to support the holder 28 above the support a small amount(see Figure 2).

The cigar or cigarette holder is provided with a trough 30 which passesentirely through the holder. This trough is substantially perpendicularto the axis of rotation of the holder. It has smoothly curved side wallswhich converge at the bottom of the trough in order to provide forcigars and cigarettes of various sizes, which may be held frictionallytherein.

In operation the jaws hold the attachment in place on one wall of acigarette or cigar ash tray. Accordingly, the holder 28 since it iscapable of rotation about a vertical axis, may be moved to a convenientposition depending upon where the person is sitting with respect to theattachment. Inasmuch as one wall of the ash tray is used to support theattachment the lit end of the cigarette or cigar is maintained over theopen top of the ash tray so that ashes falling therefrom will beretained in the ash tray.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new 1s:

1. In an attachment for a vehicle ash tray, the attachment including aholder having a tapered pin extending therefrom, the improvementcomprising a support for the holder, said support including a block withan upper surface, said block having a tapered bore therein which opensthrough said surface and which constitutes a means for rotatablysupporting the pin of the holder, said block having a fixed and rigidleg depending therefrom and constituting a jaw element, a resilientmember secured at one end to said block and having its other end locatedadjacent to said leg and constituting a second jaw element, and said jawelements being adapted to receive a part of a wall of an ash traytherebetween.

3 2. The combination of claim 1 and said block being provided with arecess in one side wall thereof in which said resilient member isdisposed, and one side of said leg being substantially planar toconstitute a fiat bearing surface for contact with a wall of an ashtray.

ARTHUR SMERECK.

REFERENCES CITED 7 Number 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date SouthwickJan. 14, 1873 Trenholm May 6, 1902 Cobb Jan. 16, 1917 Hanley Dec.. 11,1923 Clarke 1. May 29, 1928 Gift May 27, 1930 Horwitt et a1 Mar. 3, 1936Wagner June 22, 1937 Thomas Feb. 6, 1940 Clapp Feb. 3, 1942

